Kindle Edition
Amazon
Category:
Fantasy
ISBN-10: B00M5O0Y4Q
Type: Fiction
Pages: 115
Price: $1.99 (eBook)
Kydor and Hestia are friends about to embark upon an epic journey.
Kydor is content to wile away the day protecting Hestia, helping out when he can, until they meet a strange wizard who has a quest for them. There is truth out there waiting to be discovered, but can the duo survive it all?
Excerpt
'The goblin's that way.' The scruffy, almost dwarven man said, pointing towards the yawning chasm just ahead.
'Marvelous.' He grumbled, tossing his heavy, rune inscribed battleaxe over his shoulder. 'That's real specific.' Sighing, he pushed onward, toward the goblin, his five gold reward, and if lucky, a few silver or copper from the goblin itself.
'Good luck sir.'
He tossed his free left hand up silently, a halfway acknowledgement in passing.
Right away he could smell the mistake. How these farmers could confuse a troll for anything else was beyond him. Either way- a troll meant more payment. The pay was five gold; it was all these villagers could afford. However, it hadn't escaped him that it was reaping season. A bushel of corn would do just as well.
He tapped the runes on his axe, preparing for combat. The axe momentarily glowed blue; it thrummed slightly in his hand. It was ready, and so was he. Smiling grimly, he pushed into the cave.
Rounding a slight bend, he knew was in for a long day. The troll was a juvenile, who was just coming into maturity. He glowed orange, and cast long eerie shadows on the low cavern walls.
'Hey big fellow.' He greeted, bringing his axe up to the ready.
The troll grunted, and slapped the walls.
'Human, go.'
'I'm afraid I can't do that. Seems you wandered up on some farmers.'
'Don't care, humans not matter.'
He roared a series of guttural sounds, which indicated that he was undergoing his ku'a tu da'naan, or rite of passage. Denying him that would render him unfit, and that was really, really bad.
There was another way though, and that was through combat. Unfortunately, that involved someone losing their head.
The troll began grunting rhythmically, pounding his fists into the yellow soil, which meant he was charging up. The warrior charged; shouting a powerful ward. It was meant to slow down the troll, giving him a chance to swing his axe.
Instead, the troll waved it away with one giant fist, while bringing his other up, meeting the charge. The warrior barely had time to swipe down on a ward on his axe shaft. The troll's fist met the giant axe, and ward or not, it hurt a lot. Quickly reaching into his belt, he grabbed a small dirk, which glowed green. It was coated in the venom of a Death's Hand tarantula. Against a man, it'd be deadly, against a troll; it merely stung, and further pissed him off. Releasing the small knife, he jammed his axe forward, shrugging off the troll, and before he could pull the knife free, the axe was buried in the trolls' skull. He roared in pain before falling dead to the floor.
Emerging from the cave, he tossed the trolls' severed head at the feet of the gathering crowd.
'You people,' He began, wiping Mythor on the grass. 'You people need to learn the difference between a troll, and a goblin.' He seated the great axe in an almost hidden holster slung across his broad back. 'And it's going to cost you extra for not knowing that difference.'
Walking into the sun, with the coins firmly cinched against his belt, the irony of his situation hadn't escaped him, but what else was there? Sighing, he guided the bartered mule and bushel of corn down the dusty path towards home.
His name was Kydor. He was a Barbarian, and an Outcast. He told his father, the village elder, that this life wasn't for him. His father's response? The law of the village- turning his back on he who would turn their back on the tribe, or its ways; even if that person was his own son, and next in line to rule the clan.
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